In Their Eyes
by MushiMae
Summary: Hikari is the new girl in town and everyone is dying to meet her. No one really knows who she is. Nor do they expect how important of a role she'll partake in their lives. So let's find out! Same plot, different point of views. Ratings may increase due to later chapters, but don't say I didn't warn you(;
1. Dealing with the Chef

Chapter 1

"A new farmer?" questioned Hayden, the bald bearded man who owned Brass Bar.

Chase wasn't particularly interested in other people's conversations. However, it was such a rare occasion for people to come to their island, he couldn't help but listen. In fact, rather than coming here, many locals would rather leave in order to find ways to make their home prosperous. Because, for some odd reason, the whole island seemed to have deteriorated over the last few years.

The land became drier, making it difficult for crops to grow. With little grass growing, Horn Ranch has been struggling to properly feed their animals natural fodder. As a result, produce from their animals have decreased in both quantity and quality. As a professional chef(-in-training), Chase understood the importance of high quality ingredients from crops and animal produce. So in a number of ways, this chain reaction affected his life too. To make matters worse, fuel to light fire has become weak. Anytime he wanted to cook, it was always a frustrating battle between him and the stove. The only thing holding him back from leaving this miserable place was the world famous master chef Yolanda from Ocarina Inn. As humble as she was, it took Chase three whole years to finally persuade her into taking him in as her apprentice. There was no way in hell he would pass up this opportunity.

"Yeah, that's what Mayor Hamilton said. I'm so excited! I feel like it was ages ago since we last met someone new... Isn't that right, Chasey?" Kathy, his blonde co-worker and daughter of Hayden, teased.

"Seafood Stew for table 3," Chase called out as he briefly turned around, just to hand Kathy a plate of freshly cooked food.

Kathy sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

* * *

The next day, Chase went to Ocarina Inn for some early morning training sessions with Yolanda. Because there was still a lot of time left to kill before the bar opened, her granddaughter Maya insisted Chase spend time with her. However, he found her stubborn demands of attention rather irritating. So as not to offend Master Yolanda's bloodline, Chase made up the excuse of already having plans with his friend Luke, the carpenter's son and a fellow apprentice.

On his way to the Mines, Chase spotted a large white dog on the church grounds. He decided to feed him some of the Banana Pudding he made for Luke as compensation to cover up his lie to Maya. He crouched to the dog's level and handed him the pudding. It looked as if he hadn't ate in days. Strangely enough, he seemed too friendly to be a stray.

"Where's your owner, buddy?" he asked, petting its huge body. "You know... you shouldn't trust people so easily... I would know." It looked up at him for a brief moment before happily continuing his meal. Chase let out a chuckle. As he slowly got up to brush the dirt off his pants, his gaze met with the overview of the gloomy town and lonesome horizon.

' _Maybe I do belong here..._ ' he thought to himself as events of his previous life in the city flashed into his head. Just like this island, he had seen better days. Like how one by one, all the people he once held so dear had left him, causing him to become an empty shell. He needed to start a new and this town just so happened to have Master Yolanda as a resident.

Now that he thought about it, he actually felt jealous of the small boring town. Although it was just a bunch of old worn out buildings, all the locals treated it ever so preciously. He recalled all the times he questioned why Master Yolanda, wasting so much of her potential here (in his opinion), refused to leave. He remembered the worry in her eyes when they talked about the conditions of the island, but she always gave him a strong honest smile, reassuring him that it'll all get better. He thought about how naive everyone was, just hoping and praying that one day it'll happen somehow. At least the younger people around his age were taking actions by studying in the mainland. Hopefully the Goddess will bless them in finding a solution to restore this miserable place.

"Hi!" Chase jumped at a cheerful voice behind him. There stood a girl with brown short hair and amber eyes that were, in contrast to his, full of life. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. My name is Hikari!" she bowed and gave him a big bright smile.

Chase stared at the unfamiliar figure. The white dog he fed earlier was standing right next to her, both looking up at him with similar happy faces. He could practically see a tail wagging behind her, following the same motions as the white dog's. This caused him to let out a chuckle that surprised not only him, but the new girl as well. He coughed to the side to cover up his embarrassment. "Sorry, you must be the new rancher everyone is talking about."

"Yeah! I just arrived a few days ago. I'm from Mineral City, but I used to spend summers on my grandparents' farm right outside of the city. So I guess I have just enough experience to handle raising my own," she explained hesitantly.

Knowing how difficult it already was for the existing farmers and ranchers in Flute Fields, Chase rolled his eyes. "Good luck with that."

"Aw, thanks," Hikari smiled. You could practically see the flowers floating around her.

Chase stared at the strange girl with a look of disbelief. ' _Does this chick not understand sarcasm?_ ' He opened his mouth to question her stupidity, but quickly decided that the poor kid was new, so the least he could do was give her a break. He closed his mouth and rubbed the back of his head out of frustration. "Whatever... Name's Chase. I work as chef at Brass Bar. I wouldn't suggest stopping by anytime soon though. The fire around here is really weak for some reason. I won't be able to give you a great first impression of our food."

"Oh, I see..." Hikari suspiciously looked away. "But don't worry. I promise it'll get better soon!" she said with determination.

"You promise? What can you do about it?" Chase gave her a questioning look.

"Oh! Uh..." she laughed nervously, trying to come up with a recovery statement. The odds, however, were not in her favor.

Though he didn't really believe this small ignorant being would magically revive the fire within the land, Chase decided to amuse her. "Tell you what," he sighed. "If you can somehow bring life back into my stove, I'll cook you anything you like. Free of charge."

Hikari gasped with excitement. "A challenge? I gladly accept!" She crossed her arms in thought. "I guess if you win, I'll give you anything I can grow on my farm. Free of charge! Just give me one week," she smirked rather cutely as she held up a finger.

Chase was shocked by her full-powered confidence. He wasn't sure if she could even grow a single turnip with the land being so dry. However, he liked the idea of having free ingredients even more. He sent an approving smirk back at her, "Alright then. I'll see you a week from now." Hikari nodded and jumped up in pure happiness, before making her way towards Garmon Mines. Chase tried to hold back his laughter when she lost her footing due to her refusal to stop waving goodbye. In his eyes, she was like a cute clumsy puppy.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **"Thank you so much for giving my story a chance. Hontou ni arigatougozaimasu~! Please leave any comments if you like it so far, or if you have any constructive criticism that I can use to improve :3 P.S. Did anyone notice my reference to _Mineral Town_? You'll find out a little about that in later chapters... Maybe ;P"**

 **Disclaimer: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, OWN _HARVEST MOON_ (/ _STORY OF SEASONS_ )! Writing stories about things I love is merely for my own entertainment.**


	2. Welding a Friendship

Chapter 2

"Owen! Owen! Get up!" a little orange-haired girl shouted as she jumped on her cousin's bed. She yelped when she felt a gigantic hand grab her skinny leg and pull her under the blankets. She was basically being cuddled to death. "OWEN!" She struggled as she tried to free herself, but it was impossible with the difference of their body mass. After a few minutes, she suddenly went limp from exhaustion. This moment of silence gave her an opportunity to think of a strategy and, thank Goddess, she knew exactly where his weak spot was. Once she felt Owen's grip weaken just enough for her to slightly turn towards him, she poked him in the flat area right below his sternum.

"GAHHHH!" Immediately feeling Owen's grip loosen, she made her escape. Knowing her cousin, she knew better than to stop there so she continued running out the door. "CHLOEEEE!" He tried running after her, but as soon as he opened up his door, his face met with a steel pan.

"YOU TWO ARE BEING TOO LOUD, TOO DAMN EARLY!" shouted their grandfather Ramsey, who was the town's blacksmith.

"Yeeeeaaaahhh," Chloe taunted, poking her head out from behind him. Owen made a face at her and snorted when she made an even uglier face back at him.

"Now that you're up, you better get a move on," Ramsey warned as he turned to make his leave.

"Yes, grandpa," Owen sighed, going back into his room to get dressed.

* * *

Owen made his way down the Mines, whistling a catchy tune that danced with the sounds of his footsteps. He stopped in front of a large boulder on the 10th floor. For the past few days, he enjoyed smashing away at the mysterious object in replacement for his workout. It never used to be there, but he never really thought much of it. However, today was the day he was going to conquer it. He could feel it in his bones! He even brought a backpack full of food and water so as not to waste time going back to the surface when he got hungry.

He set his backpack down in front the stairs, stretched out his large muscles, and took some practice swings with his hammer to prepare himself. After about ten minutes, he tightened his grip on his trusty hammer and positioned his feet to a proper stance. He swung his hammer behind him, ready to make his blow.

"Ahh!" All of a sudden, a girl came rolling next to him and made an abrupt stop once her head hit the boulder. The girl rubbed her head in pain and looked up.

Still in his stance with a hammer in hand, Owen was frozen from shock. Once they made eye contact, the girl screamed in fright and Owen yelled from the sudden outburst. They both turned away and tried to catch their breath. After about a minute, they slowly looked at one another. Once they made eye contact for a second time, they both broke out in laughter.

"W-what just happened?" Owen attempted to say through his laugh.

"It was dark and I tripped on something in front of the stairs!" the girl explained defensively, pointing at Owen's backpack.

"Aha, sorry about that. I wasn't expecting anyone to come down here." Owen offered his hand and swiftly pulled her onto her feet once she accepted it.

She blushed at his kind gesture, but Owen didn't seem to notice. He was too busy looking around for the hammer he unconsciously threw during their little screaming session. "Thank you. I don't think we've met. My name's Hikari."

"Oh, so you're the new farmer! I'm Owen. I'm an apprentice of Ramsey, the blacksmith. What brings you down here?" He turned towards her once he found his hammer, but was taken aback to find her staring up at him with eyes of awe.

"So YOU'RE Owen! Ramsey told me you might know something about a red bell!" she explained rather hurriedly.

Owen scratched his temple. "That old thing? It hasn't rung in years. But if you're still interested, it should be right behind this boulder." He watched as Hikari's body slumped down in disappointment upon seeing the boulder. This caused him to panick.

He never really knew how to handle girls. They were like fragile beings, both physically and emotionally. Even as a young child, he always felt guilty for accidentally causing some sort of harm towards a girl. Rather it be on the playground, or when he just wanted to joke around with them. The only girl he didn't really have to be gentle with was his baby cousin Chloe. But maybe pain tolerance and roughness runs in their genes.

"I mean, I've been swinging at this thing for a few days now. I should be able to get rid of it by the end of today..."

Her whole body rose back up so quickly, you could practically see ears pop out of her head. In addition, her eyes grew wide with high hopes. "You can?!" Owen awkwardly nodded and was startled at her sudden jump of glee. "I'll come back tomorrow then! Good luck!"

He watched in amusement as she hurriedly skipped her way towards the stairs, stopping in front of his back pack and carefully stepping over it before continuing her joyous skips up the stairs. He chuckled as he crossed his arms and shook his head. In his eyes, this girl reminded him of an big-eyed tiny rabbit.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Thanks again for giving this story a chance! :D It's a tad shorter than the first chapter, mainly cause I wanted to hurry up and post up more chapters so you can get a better understanding of what the story will be like.**

 **P.S. The beginning scene is actually based on me and my boyfriend's wrestling sessions. He likes to initiate them because he knows I did judo in high school, but I was never good at floor work. He's rather muscular and isn't very ticklish, but I found a sensitive spot on his chest that causes him to retreat with just a light touch. Mwahaha! &For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, just google image search of the "xiphoid process." **


End file.
